Thanks to everyone for a delightful Ecosophia potluck this year! When it was over, several of us went down to enjoy WaterFire on Peter's recommendation. That too was delightful once we had managed to weave our way past the cotton-candy and funnel-cake vendors. The magical elemental tone set by wind-blown bonfires crackling above the flowing river felt like a very intentional and well-planned ritual. The widely varied musical accompaniment kept changing how the mood of that ritual came across, but would regularly return to formal, contemplative pieces to reestablish the reverent tone. The people gathered about on all the bridges and quays were much better behaved than I would have expected from a modern urban crowd, as though everyone could sense that something profound was taking place, something worthy of reverence and contemplation. It was nice to be around so many people working naturally in concert to raise the energy and spirit of the place, without requiring some ideological litmus test for participants to be allowed entry. Roger Williams' ghost must be very happy with how his values continue to positively influence Providence's culture.
And then I had to come back to New York City... on Pride Parade Sunday, of all days! What a startling contrast that was! This ridiculous modern parody of the considerable pride and courage that was once required to be "out" publicly as gay now just feels worn and tacky, in much the same way as slowly degrading plastic does. Trying to navigate through the aftermath of that ostentatiously over-proud parade, I felt none of the buzz of hope, confidence, or joy that I remember from decades past. Watching so many self-steroetyping cookie-cutters decked out in their mandatory rainbow team colors, as they desperately signaled their Defiance™ and self-adulating Splendiferousness™ at each other, was utterly exhausting. I couldn't help but draw a comparison between all the branded (and apparently required) rainbow uniforms and the rabid fervor with which my hometown Pittsburgh ball-fans flaunt their overpriced Steelers fetish wear at their fellow tailgaters. How did civil rights get turned into identity politics get turned into my team is better than yours, and I'll fight you if you say otherwise?
If any energy or spirit somehow actually got raised in yesterday's hollowed-out ritual, it was at the expense of those of us non-participants, unwillingly forced into the role of playing audience to the participants' tragically predictable and hackneyed antics. "Not to throw shade, Honey, but that routine wasn't even new back in 1985, so you definitely need to update your shtick!" [insert sassy head-waggle here]
The idea that going to a gay pride parade requires any special courage or pride this year must be some kind of schizophrenic, echo-chamber logic. It seems much more likely that NOT going to gay pride might well get one harassed by our newly self-minted (with a little help from Soros) trans police. The once-bold gay rights movement has been turned into just another way for dull, captive conformists to LARP their cutting-edge bona fides from the safety of the obedient mob. So much dreary mandatory self-expression with all the life completely over-rehearsed out of it. Is there any way to prevent a successful egregore from being corrupted beyond recognition once it becomes overly popular? Is there some way to scare the stiff LARPers away, so we could just go back to being happily marginalized again? I mean, being gay used to be so much fun before this woke madness descended like a poison cloud on us all!
Being openly gay used to convey a severe outsider status, pretty much by definition. Those of us who chose to do something other than just passing for straight (while surreptitiously sneaking off to the park for quickies in the dark, of course) made that choice at least partly because we were unwilling to submit to the strictly enforced homogeneity demanded of us. On some level, by choice, we were natural disobedients and fighters. By fighting against marriage inequality or the strategic underfunding of AIDS research, groups like HRC and ACT-UP gave us the kind of rebel causes we needed in order to not fall into the decadence and perversity that also seems to be a rather noticeable through line in our nature.
Now, stripped of our outsider status, with no serious injustices to rail against any more, we've started making up boogeymen under the bed to shadow box with so that we won't have to go through the discomfort of rethinking our rebel identity. With all our seasoned fighters distracted in a collective identity crisis, we apparently didn't notice as various abusive corporate and government power structures co-opted the gay-rights movement to become the judgemental face of a new enforced homogeneity of perversity. Well... at least they've provided us with another rigid, deadening script to fight against again! Maybe that will be able to keep our collective identity crisis at bay for a little bit longer.
Is there by chance any way to prevent the getting of everything that you asked for from draining away all of your willpower and then turning you into a really easy mark? And why does the West end up flirting with draconian conformity on such a painfully regular basis? It's the empire thingy, isn't it? The Brits, the Romans, every empire wants docile, interchangeable subjects. Oh, wait a minute, interchangeable could be the industrial thingy, too. There's just so many options for what could be inciting our deranged overlords to endlessly try making life as Kafkaesque as possible. From now on, gay pride will mean wearing all-matching rainbow uniforms to your child's castration party — Kafka must be so very jealous of us just about now!
no subject
And then I had to come back to New York City... on Pride Parade Sunday, of all days! What a startling contrast that was! This ridiculous modern parody of the considerable pride and courage that was once required to be "out" publicly as gay now just feels worn and tacky, in much the same way as slowly degrading plastic does. Trying to navigate through the aftermath of that ostentatiously over-proud parade, I felt none of the buzz of hope, confidence, or joy that I remember from decades past. Watching so many self-steroetyping cookie-cutters decked out in their mandatory rainbow team colors, as they desperately signaled their Defiance™ and self-adulating Splendiferousness™ at each other, was utterly exhausting. I couldn't help but draw a comparison between all the branded (and apparently required) rainbow uniforms and the rabid fervor with which my hometown Pittsburgh ball-fans flaunt their overpriced Steelers fetish wear at their fellow tailgaters. How did civil rights get turned into identity politics get turned into my team is better than yours, and I'll fight you if you say otherwise?
If any energy or spirit somehow actually got raised in yesterday's hollowed-out ritual, it was at the expense of those of us non-participants, unwillingly forced into the role of playing audience to the participants' tragically predictable and hackneyed antics. "Not to throw shade, Honey, but that routine wasn't even new back in 1985, so you definitely need to update your shtick!" [insert sassy head-waggle here]
The idea that going to a gay pride parade requires any special courage or pride this year must be some kind of schizophrenic, echo-chamber logic. It seems much more likely that NOT going to gay pride might well get one harassed by our newly self-minted (with a little help from Soros) trans police. The once-bold gay rights movement has been turned into just another way for dull, captive conformists to LARP their cutting-edge bona fides from the safety of the obedient mob. So much dreary mandatory self-expression with all the life completely over-rehearsed out of it. Is there any way to prevent a successful egregore from being corrupted beyond recognition once it becomes overly popular? Is there some way to scare the stiff LARPers away, so we could just go back to being happily marginalized again? I mean, being gay used to be so much fun before this woke madness descended like a poison cloud on us all!
Being openly gay used to convey a severe outsider status, pretty much by definition. Those of us who chose to do something other than just passing for straight (while surreptitiously sneaking off to the park for quickies in the dark, of course) made that choice at least partly because we were unwilling to submit to the strictly enforced homogeneity demanded of us. On some level, by choice, we were natural disobedients and fighters. By fighting against marriage inequality or the strategic underfunding of AIDS research, groups like HRC and ACT-UP gave us the kind of rebel causes we needed in order to not fall into the decadence and perversity that also seems to be a rather noticeable through line in our nature.
Now, stripped of our outsider status, with no serious injustices to rail against any more, we've started making up boogeymen under the bed to shadow box with so that we won't have to go through the discomfort of rethinking our rebel identity. With all our seasoned fighters distracted in a collective identity crisis, we apparently didn't notice as various abusive corporate and government power structures co-opted the gay-rights movement to become the judgemental face of a new enforced homogeneity of perversity. Well... at least they've provided us with another rigid, deadening script to fight against again! Maybe that will be able to keep our collective identity crisis at bay for a little bit longer.
Is there by chance any way to prevent the getting of everything that you asked for from draining away all of your willpower and then turning you into a really easy mark? And why does the West end up flirting with draconian conformity on such a painfully regular basis? It's the empire thingy, isn't it? The Brits, the Romans, every empire wants docile, interchangeable subjects. Oh, wait a minute, interchangeable could be the industrial thingy, too. There's just so many options for what could be inciting our deranged overlords to endlessly try making life as Kafkaesque as possible. From now on, gay pride will mean wearing all-matching rainbow uniforms to your child's castration party — Kafka must be so very jealous of us just about now!
— Christophe